When I’m reading, fiction or nonfiction alike, I all too often find myself internally “living out” a part of the plot. I mentally “take control” of a main character and unintentionally continue their story in my mind, catching myself only when I register that my thoughts have started to come unglued from what’s actually printed on the page sitting in front of me. When I have a meaningful conversation with a friend, I find myself comparing what I’ve now learned about their thoughts and feelings with what I previously had guessed or assumed they were thinking or feeling. Again, all too often I find I’ve made a now-contradicted assumption about someone without intending to. Personal communication and reading alike bridge the gaps among actions, thoughts, and feelings; for me, that’s what makes them rewarding and fascinating. It may not be a particularly interesting or special word, but due to how it’s affected by reading and communication, “perception” has come to be a favorite word to me.

Another reason reading can fascinate me is with a character’s perceptions. I’ve noticed a pattern where most of my favorite books tend to be first-person and that I enjoy a character mostly through his or her internal monologue. Something similar applies to real people. I build my perception of my family and friends heavily off what I learn they’re feeling or thinking about, particularly off knowledge of thoughts or feelings that I previously didn’t know they had. I often get gripped with an irrationally severe feeling of “not knowing someone,” even if I know many things about them. Even when I truly do know someone well, my mind will often wander and wonder: “What are they thinking about? I wonder how they feel about the world? … about me?” In the same vein, I feel that I will never fully understand the the world I live in. I will continue to amass knowledge about the human race as I learn the intangible thoughts and feelings of others. However, I will never fully understand any one person as long as I continue to constantly, unconsciously make perceptions of them based off only tangible information.

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Hello Noah,
I found this post to be extremely intriguing. The insight that you provide on how you interpret reading is fascinating, you have a good sense of perception on reading as well as connecting the foundation of reading into your personal life. You said that “personal communication and reading alike bridge the gaps among actions, thoughts, and feelings” which I found to be a very accurate interpretation of the affect that literature can have on a person’s life. I found an article that provides good insight as to how a person’s perceptions can influence the behavior/understanding of other people as well as ourselves. http://www.presspublications.com/opinionscolumns/146-dare-to-live-without-limits/7930-perception-can-influence-you-in-many-ways

Thank you for creating this post. I can’t wait to see what you write next, because the attention to detail you have in your writing is very astounding. I like how you emphasized your love for reading and how you came to understand more about the world, the perception of others, as well as the perception of yourself throughout reading literature. I hope you pursue your literary interests, as well as your impressive writing.

I am interested in post because i feel like this is something a lot of people do. most people picture themselves as the main character but not as much of changing the story. One thing you said that stands out for me is “…I register that my thoughts have started to come unglued from what’s actually printed on the page sitting in front of me. ” because this is something I find myself doing well reading. Your post reminds me of something that happened to me. some times i catch myself wondering what people are thinking and if they think about things like the universe. Thanks for sharing your post. I look forward to seeing what you write next because I liked hearing about something i believe a lot of people do but never talk about.

Dear Noah,
I am satisfied with your view on perception in your post because most people see someone and guess who they are.Even before meeting them people have a certain view on someone.Either how they look or if they have a rumor about them.One thing that stands out for me is, “However, I will never fully understand any one person as long as I continue to constantly, unconsciously make perceptions of them based off only tangible information.” I think this is intelligent because you understand that you can not judge any one till you actually know who they are.

Dear Noah,
I agree with what you have to say on the topic about stereotypes and perception of people. A statement that really stood out to me was, ” I find myself comparing what I’ve now learned about their thoughts and feelings with what I previously had guessed or assumed they were thinking or feeling. Again, all too often I find I’ve made a now-contradicted assumption about someone without intending to. Personal communication and reading alike bridge the gaps among actions, thoughts, and feelings; for me, that’s what makes them rewarding and fascinating.” ; this made me think about my own memories of how I have done this before and then realized what was actually happening.

One sentence you wrote that stand out for me is ” Even if i truly do know someone well, my mind will often wander and wonder…” I think this is intricate because it is very hard to be able to see other’s perceptions about certain situations. Perception is about learning who someone is through their perception and being able to use it as your own perception.

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This is a youth-powered social network that was started in 2003 by a group of teachers from local sites of the National Writing Project.

We merged several earlier blogging projects. We have found that there are many advantages to bringing students together in one site that lives beyond any particular class. It's easier for individual students to read and write about their own passions, to connect with other students, comment on each other's work, and create multimedia posts for each other. Further, it's been exciting for us to pool our knowledge about curriculum, connected learning, and digital literacies.

If being part of such a community makes sense to you, we invite you to join us. We welcome all youth and any teacher interested in having students publish online and participate in the give and take of a social network like Youth Voices.